Family & Community Services of Somerset County: Work with mental health providers to cut waiting times for children needing mental health counseling and medicines. 2018 initiative is group counseling to support middle school children who recently arrives in the US from Latin America and who suffered trauma in their country of origin. Most recent program report: 2018 F&CS Mid-Year Report Past program reports: Family and Community ServicesFamily and Community Services Report

CASA SHaW: Support tutoring program that helps abused and neglected children, especially those who are in out of home placements and have fallen behind educationally and need special attention to catch-up. Past program report: CASA TutoringCASA Traveling Tutor Report

Proactive Parenting

A Parents Anonymous of New Jersey Chapter

If you are a parent or caregiver of a child with emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs, Proactive Parenting is a way to gain knowledge of positive, proactive strategies for handling your child’s challenging behaviors. At the monthly meetings, you may tell your story and listen to the experiences of others. In the process, you will gain a network of support within the community to help you in your most challenging and important job: being a loving and effective parent to your children.

One of the first two goals of the Children’s Hope Initiative was to establish a Parents Anonymous Chapter in Somerset County. We thank the Family Support Organization of Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren Counties and EmPoWER/Family Success Center for making this much needed program happen.

Meetings are held one evening each month (currently first Friday of each month, 7-8pm) at the EmPoWER Family Success Center, 34 West Main Street, 2nd Floor, Somerville. For more information about future meetings, please call 908-223-1191 or contact the Family Support Organization through their website at http://fso-hsw.org

Children who experience abuse and neglect are 11 times more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 2.7 times more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 3.1 times more likely to commit a violent crime. (1)

About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse. (1)

Five children die every day as a result of child abuse in America. (2)

A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds. (3)

245 Somerset County children were in out-of-home placements and not in their own homes during the last court year because of abuse or neglect. (4)

(4) New Jersey Judiciary Court Management Report Year End June 30, 2012

US Government Statistics on Child Abuse & Neglect
Using information collected through various monitoring and reporting systems, the Children's Bureau analyzes and reports data on a variety of topics, including adoption, foster care, child abuse, and neglect.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/can/statistics/

New Jersey Child Abuse & Neglect Statistics
Here you will find helpful information about the types of children involved with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, DCP&P (formerly the Division of Youth and Family Services), including kids who are served in the homes of their birth parents and those who had to be removed into an out-of-home placement. You will also find up-to-date information about efforts to recruit new foster and adoptive families.
http://www.state.nj.us/dcf/ (look at “Data” tab)